Mark Foley Strat pickups

Alex335

been thinking about upgrading my Strat pickups... Mark Foley gets a lot of good press, and seems to have a lot of vintage type Strat players singing his praises 

ive heard a few clips of his 60's pre CBS and seem closer to the tone im looking for.
 just wondered if anyone here is or has used them? and what their thoughts are on them compared to other brands vintage type pickups?

he's also done a colab with Peach guitars to recreate SRV's number one Strat set which also has my attention..

i guess what im looking for is a more open and dynamic sound than the CS hot 60's which i currently have 

Thanks Alex 

guitars4you

About 2 years he had a small stand at the Birmingham Guitar Show - I'd just finished chatting to Anysley Lister about pick-ups and Strats and he mentioned he'd just fitted some of Mark's p/ups - a 64/65 set with grey bobbins - I purchased a set - He only had a few of them - Love them - Not as 'hot' with pushy mids as early 60's models - More clear and lush - More Little Wing and less hot - More open and dynamic as less powerful - I only play with subtle gain - As you say, he has a good reputation

downbytheriver

Not the same thing but Mark did a fantastic job rewinding the bridge pickup from my 63 Strat. Sounded perfect

soma1975

I have the Pre-CBS 60s set in my Strat and they are astonishingly good. Coming from CS69s then Bare Knuckle Mothers Milks they were an instant 'THAT's the sound I was after'. Warm but with plenty of cut. 

guitars4you

guitars4you said:

About 2 years he had a small stand at the Birmingham Guitar Show - I'd just finished chatting to Anysley Lister about pick-ups and Strats and he mentioned he'd just fitted some of Mark's p/ups - a 64/65 set with grey bobbins - I purchased a set - He only had a few of them - Love them - Not as 'hot' with pushy mids as early 60's models - More clear and lush - More Little Wing and less hot - More open and dynamic as less powerful - I only play with subtle gain - As you say, he has a good reputation

Thinking about it, Anysley had a Strat at the show - He was working with Chris @RiftAmps ;amps at the show - Early 70's model (might have been a 'orrible green colour') - With those p/ups on it - I played it and it instantly had a tone that grabbed you - And that is what made me buy the same set 

crunchman

His website says he's not taking new orders at the moment due to extremely high demand.

scovell001

I just got a set of 60s cbs & have installed them in my ‘58 journeyman relic. Woah ! They are really really nice. Very even sounding with a nice tight bass and a lovely weight to the neck pickup. They are articulate and jangly in all positions and even the unused middle position sounds good. They are bright but. It harsh. I’m super happy, have transformed the guitar. 

PeachGuitarsRyan

Mark is the man, an absolute tone guru. The work that he and John have put into the Lone Star Series "Number One" set is unreal, and the demand has been crazy. If you haven't already, check the listing here - https://bit.ly/3mtAbHA

There's a great video in there too. John also used them for our Guitar Mag collaboration for the SRV edition vid here - 

Alex335

Thanks for all the comments... looks like ill most likely be pulling the trigger when he's taking orders again 

axisus

Personally I wouldn't pay £300 for a set of pickups. You can get an excellent set for around a third of that. I am extremely happy with my Alegree Frigid Haze pickups, still, each to his own, if you can afford them and you love them then all is good.

bgmartinsbridge

I had a set a couple of years ago in a strat.
Honestly some of the best pups I've ever played. 

soma1975

It's not about the quality per se, but the voicing. 

Plenty of great inexpensive pickups out there but honestly, if you play them you'd not for a moment suggest they were overpriced. 

scovell001

axisus said:

Personally I wouldn't pay £300 for a set of pickups. You can get an excellent set for around a third of that. I am extremely happy with my Alegree Frigid Haze pickups, still, each to his own, if you can afford them and you love them then all is good.

I think the op was hoping to hear from people who perhaps owned a set ! 

exocet

He used to operate under the "Fatboy" name, I have a set of pickups from that era, they were modelled on 1968 era - very good indeed. I think his pickups are also used by SVL Guitars / Matt Schofield.

Philly_Q

exocet said:

He used to operate under the "Fatboy" name, I have a set of pickups from that era, they were modelled on 1968 era - very good indeed. I think his pickups are also used by SVL Guitars / Matt Schofield.

Did he/they make aged plastic parts well?

exocet

Philly_Q said:

exocet said:

He used to operate under the "Fatboy" name, I have a set of pickups from that era, they were modelled on 1968 era - very good indeed. I think his pickups are also used by SVL Guitars / Matt Schofield.

Did he/they make aged plastic parts well?

Yes - they were very good too.

PudWud

I had a set of his reserve pickups in my old SVL and they were very very good. 

However, if they weren’t already installed in the SVL I’m not sure I’d fork out £300 for them. 

I don’t usually care too much about value for money in guitar gear, just do I like it and can I afford it. But I think there are other strat pickups I’ve enjoyed as much for £50-100 less. 

guitars4you

Philly_Q said:

exocet said:

He used to operate under the "Fatboy" name, I have a set of pickups from that era, they were modelled on 1968 era - very good indeed. I think his pickups are also used by SVL Guitars / Matt Schofield.

Did he/they make aged plastic parts well?

I was under the impression he acquired such parts from Japan - I recall they were very good especially the aged scratchplates

I also recall that under 'Fatboy' he was also selling Amalfitano pickups from the USA - So not sure if he was making his own p/ups back then - Not sure when this part of his business started - Think he was operating from the Isle of Wight

exocet

guitars4you said:

Philly_Q said:

exocet said:

He used to operate under the "Fatboy" name, I have a set of pickups from that era, they were modelled on 1968 era - very good indeed. I think his pickups are also used by SVL Guitars / Matt Schofield.

Did he/they make aged plastic parts well?

I was under the impression he acquired such parts from Japan - I recall they were very good especially the aged scratchplates

I also recall that under 'Fatboy' he was also selling Amalfitano pickups from the USA - So not sure if he was making his own p/ups back then - Not sure when this part of his business started - Think he was operating from the Isle of Wight

I suspect that you are right on the plastics. On the pickups - I don't recall him ever selling amalfitano pickups - SVL guitars used to fit those then offered Mark Foley pickups so I can see some linkage there. I bought my Fat Boy pickups from him in 2012 - definitely no Amalfitano on offer at that stage. 

guitars4you

exocet said:

guitars4you said:

Philly_Q said:

exocet said:

He used to operate under the "Fatboy" name, I have a set of pickups from that era, they were modelled on 1968 era - very good indeed. I think his pickups are also used by SVL Guitars / Matt Schofield.

Did he/they make aged plastic parts well?

I was under the impression he acquired such parts from Japan - I recall they were very good especially the aged scratchplates

I also recall that under 'Fatboy' he was also selling Amalfitano pickups from the USA - So not sure if he was making his own p/ups back then - Not sure when this part of his business started - Think he was operating from the Isle of Wight

I suspect that you are right on the plastics. On the pickups - I don't recall him ever selling amalfitano pickups - SVL guitars used to fit those then offered Mark Foley pickups so I can see some linkage there. I bought my Fat Boy pickups from him in 2012 - definitely no Amalfitano on offer at that stage. 

Can't recall how far back I would need to go - suspect before 2012 - But he certainly offered the 'plastic' parts on their own, plus a fully loaded pick guard assembly - all aged with Amalfitano p/ups fitted - I brought one for a project I had going at the time and was impressed with the whole package 

Hydra19

Here's the Big Iron Low Wind set I got off the forum here, it won't let me post the video other than the link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkRmmXIwlkY